Early Review – Soul of the Deep (Of Mermaids and Orisa Book 2) by Natasha Bowen (3.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 304 pages
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 27, 2022
ASIN: B09S3NPLBF
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Of Mermaids and Orisa series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

“One life.
One choice.
One sacrifice.

To save those closest to her, Simi traded away everything: her freedom, her family, and the boy she loves. Now she is sworn to serve a new god, watching over the Land of the Dead at the bottom of the ocean.

But when signs of demons begin to appear, it’s clear there are deeper consequences of Simi’s trade. These demons spell the world’s ruin . . . and because of Simi, they now have a way into the human realm.

With the fate of the world at stake, Simi must break her promise and team up with a scheming trickster of a god. And if they succeed, perhaps Simi can also unbreak her heart along the way, and find herself again.”

Series Info/Source: This is the second, and final, book in the Of Mermaids and Orisa duology. I got a copy of this on ebook to review through Netgalley.

Thoughts: I liked this but as much as the first book. This book starts with Simi serving the god, Olokun, watching over the dead at the bottom of the ocean. However, she quickly finds out that the Olokun has betrayed his promise and because of his betrayal the ajogun (demons) might be freed to destroy humanity as we know it. Now Simi and her land-based allies must work with the very god they captured in the first book to prevent the release of the ajogun.

While I still enjoyed the stunning writing style, the story here was a lot more lackluster than in the first book. It felt like everything that happened in the first book was unraveled. The characters spend a lot of time running from battle to battle and it just wasn’t as interesting to me as they first book was. Simi and Kola feel like distant acquaintances throughout the story without any of the magnetism of the first book. I had trouble engaging with any of the characters here.

I had mixed feelings about the ending as well. I understand why it was done the way it was but it felt unsatisfying and rushed to me.

My Summary (3.5/5): Overall this was a fine conclusion to this duology but felt a bit unsatisfying. I loved the first book in this series but this one not as much. The chemistry between Kola and Simi was lacking and I didn’t find any of the characters to be all that engaging. The plot felt repetitive and tired. I still enjoyed the beautiful writing style. I would recommend this if you loved the first book. If you were so-so about the first book skip this one…it doesn’t get better.